A jam-packed Indie Rock Hit Parade is coming your way tonight, and there’s no way to stop it! Listen at 11pm ET on XPN (that’s right after What’s The Frequency??? with John Vettese, ya know?) for a full two-hour show that features not one, not two, but THREE spotlights on new releases from three very different bands out of Philly. We’ll hear from Sheer Mag‘s incendiary debut, Need To Feel Your Love, the dreamy sophomore album from Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, and (of course) the latest from Katie Crutchfield’s Waxahatchee, Out In The Storm. Also in the mix, you’ll hear new tracks from Speedy Ortiz, Cults and Parquet Courts singer A. Savage! Preview some of those below…

Alongside a host of other excellent Philly-rooted records out today — Japanese Breakfast, Sheer Mag — sits Waxahatchee‘s Out In The Storm. It’s a masterful work, cathartic and emotionally-driven but also soaring and uplifting. It’s a perfect album for long drives on the highways in the summer, it’s a perfect album for solitary contemplations on hazy late nights. And it’s perfect to boom forth from the Union Transfer PA system, so don’t miss your opportunity to take that in. Waxahatchee headlines UT tonight with Cayetana and Snail Mail, and tickets are still available. More information can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar; listen to my fave track from Out In the Storm, “Sparks Fly,” below.Continue reading →

If you’re like me and you like to know every song on a concert setlist before a show (it makes jamming along easier, okay?), Friday just got a little better. Ahead of the June 14th release date of Waxahatchee‘s highly anticipated fourth album on Merge Records, Out in the Storm is available to stream in full right now on NPR Music’s First Listen series. Continue reading →

It’s time to take a break from whatever you may be doing on this grey Tuesday (shout out to Spring on the East Coast) because Waxahatchee has a new single. “Never Been Wrong” joins the singles “Silver” and “No Curse” to kick off the countdown to Katie Crutchfield’s fourth album as Waxahatchee, titled Out in the Storm and set for a July 14th release on Merge. The album is a deep dive into the ending and the aftermath of a relationship that Crutchfield decisively reclaims for her own catharsis.

“Never Been Wrong” is sharp and smart without being bitter, personal and painful yet relatable. Crutchfield was somehow able to take these elements and turn them into an absolutely rocking jam that you can equally as well dance to on repeat with the volume turned all the way up or add to your own variation of a introspective playlist. Continue reading →

Our New Music Show returns after the Memorial Day holiday, and we’ve got some catching up to do. Of course, Dan Auerbach just released Waiting on A Song so we’ll dip into that album. Plus, we represent Philly with new music from The Districts, Waxahatchee (read below), and a super cool collaboration between trumpeter Matt Cappy and rapper Chill Moody. Also, another song from Offa Rex (The Decemberists and Olivia Chaney) with Colin Meloy on lead. And we’ll give you a preview of another tune from Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit’s new album. Whew! We’ll hear all that and a lot more tonight starting at 8pm!

Out in the Storm, Katie Crutchfield’s fourth album under the Waxahatchee banner, is due out July 14th on Merge Records, and the band just announced a hometown Union Transfer show on record release day. Better news: Cayetana shares the bill, along with Snail Mail. Better still: Cayetana and Snail Mail will join Waxahatchee on tour through early august, hitting the midwest, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Southwest. From there, the tour branches off, with Palehound and Outer Spaces teaming up with Crutchfield & co.

Waxahatchee recording their Shaking Through session | photo courtesy of Weathervane Music

As much as I am completely, avidly, and wholeheartedly obsessed with music, I cannot for the life of me fathom how artists can create songs. I am constantly in awe (and also thoroughly envious) of musicians ability to have art in their heads and then go and make it a real, living thing.

Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through video series allows musical plebeians such as I, to experience this amazing process of recording. Their brand new video showcases Katie Crutchfield’s Waxahatchee creating their new anthemic jam of a song, “No Curse.” Being as that the session was the first time the band played the song together, you’re able to see the song build and take shape before your very eyes. Continue reading →

Yes, The New Pornographers are great and all, but make sure you arrive to Union Transfer early tonight, indie rock old heads. Waxahatchee has a new record due out this summer on Merge called Out in the Storm, and based on the lead single “Silver,” it’s going to be rousing, powerful and emotive. Get there early for the rising star, sty late to sing out “The Bleeding Heart Show.” Tickets and more information can be found here. Continue reading →

Word got out a little early yesterday, but today we have official confirmation: the new album from Waxahatchee is indeed called Out in the Storm, it is indeed coming out July 14th on Merge Records, and the first single is a glorious rocker called “Sliver.”

Built around arcs of guitar riffs and layers of vocal harmonies set to a racing beat, it’s an anthem that is powerful in its abstraction. Says frontwoman Katie Crutchfield in a press statement: “It’s about self-examination and the different shapes that takes, good and bad. I wanted it to be abstract and poetic, but I also wanted to align it with the other songs on the album, since they’re all so connected lyrically.” Continue reading →

Something is afoot in camp Waxahatchee. The long-running project of singer and songwriter Katie Crutchfield has been working on the followup to 2015’s Ivy Tripp for the past year, and today Brooklyn Vegan reports the first details of the record. The band’s fourth LP will be called Out in the Storm, and it’s due out on Merge Records on Friday, July 14th. There’s nothing on Merge’s site about this yet, but there is a pre-order with full tracklisting on Australia online retailer Z Digital.

In addition, the six-minute lead single, “Sliver,” is up on Spotify but greyed out and unplayable — which, as Brooklyn Vegan suggests, indicates it’s not streamable in the U.S. yet. So if you’re reading The Key from outside our borders (perhaps from Australia), please give the new jam a listen and tell us what it sounds like. In the meantime, we’ll update you with Waxahatchee news as it hits our radar. Continue reading →

About The Key

Philadelphia: Home to a rich musical history, a unique musical identity, and one of the nation's most thriving musical communities. In a scene filled with so many local bands worth listening to, there will always be new music to discover—and The Key is your source for finding it. Brought to you by WXPN—the non-commercial public radio station that World Cafe, XPN2, and XPoNential Music Festival call home—The Key covers all local music in Greater Philly and beyond.GET IN TOUCH

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About The Key

Philadelphia: Home to a rich musical history, a unique musical identity, and one of the nation's most thriving musical communities. In a scene filled with so many local bands worth listening to, there will always be new music to discover—and The Key is your source for finding it. Brought to you by WXPN—the non-commercial public radio station that World Cafe, XPN2, and XPoNential Music Festival call home—The Key covers all local music in Greater Philly and beyond.GET IN TOUCH